Original Blog Entry: President Obama's step-grandmother Sarah Obama threatened by Al Qaeda

truesee — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:47:26 GMT

President Obama's step-grandmother, Sarah Obama, threatened by Al Qaeda in Kenya: report

Larry Mcshane

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, May 12th 2011, 9:49 AM

Ben Curtis/AP

Sarah Obama was the second wife of the president's late grandfather, and not a biological relative of Obama.

AFP/Getty

Security was increased for President Obama's step-grandmother since the US killed Osama Bin Laden.

The Kenyan home of President Obama's step-grandmother was under round-the-clock security after her life was threatened by an African Al Qaeda group, ABC News reported.

The threat from Al Shabaab, a Somalia-based branch of the terrorist organization, specifically targeted Sarah Obama in the wake of the U.S. killing of Osama Bin Laden, ABC reported Thursday.

We received reports of plans to attack the home of Mama Sarah Obama, and we immediately put in place adequate security measures, local police chief Stephen Cheteka told the African Review, a Kenyan paper.

While security was immediately increased after U.S. Seals killed Bin Laden, it was further racheted up following the threat from Al Shabaab.

The African outlet of Al Qaeda has battled against the Western-backed government of Somalia for years.

The threat was one of many issued by Bin Laden loyalists after the decade-long hunt for the World Trade Center mastermind ended with his death.

Sarah Obama was the second wife of the president's late grandfather, and not a biological relative of Obama.

The president has visited her in the rural Kenyan village of Kogelo, and she traveled to the United States twice to visit him before his election to the White House.

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